The bushveld crossandra is a dwarf herb, sometimes regarded as a shrub, endemic to the Gauteng area from Pretoria to Magaliesburg, where it grows in well-drained acid soil in grassland. The plant is also found more widely in SA's northern provinces and in Swaziland. There are 52 Crossandra species of which four occur naturally in southern Africa.

This is a commonly traded garden plant grown from seed. It belongs to the Acanthaceae family and has widely opening orange petals around a yellow centre. The flower stalks emerge erectly from basal rosettes of broad green, unevenly lobed leaves.